MARTIN O’Neill hailed £6 million new boy Fabian Delph as “brilliant” after a sparkling debut from the teenager against Fiorentina.

Delph caught the eye in the centre of midfield to leave visiting coach Cesare Prandelli waxing lyrical about his talents.

“I was very impressed by him,” said Prandelli, after Villa’s 1-0 friendly win. “He has a great personality, he never lost the ball and always had an alternative.”

O’Neill agreed: “I thought he was great. He has those attributes mentioned (by Prandelli) in abundance. Is he an immediate replacement for Gareth Barry? Hold on. That would be asking a lot.

“Is he capable of becoming a really brilliant player? No doubt about that. He has a great attitude and Premier League ability. We don’t have to wait and see if he can come through, he is knocking on the door now.

“He has played so many games for one so young. He is a player and the crowd have taken to him.

“And he can only get better.”

O’Neill had been spotted at The Riverside Stadium on Friday night with speculation that he is about to raid Middlesbrough for a second time with defender David Wheater the likely target.

Despite joking he would be making bids for three Boro players on Monday all O’Neill would say was: “I was hoping that I could go to the game and not be spotted but I was because there were not too many managers there. I just went to have a look.”